PARENTS have been demanding answers since the suspension of four teachers from a city primary school.

Danescourt Primary School in Llandaff, Cardiff, hit the headlines when letters were distributed to parents informing them of an ongoing investigation.

A closed meeting was recently held at their request, although the school’s governors, headteacher, local councillors and Cardiff council have been criticised for holding back.

Kevin Brennan, MP for Cardiff West, knew nothing until informed by the Echo and we have been inundated with calls from concerned parents since the news broke last month.

The authority’s chief schools officer Chris Jones last night spoke to Echo education correspondent Gareth Evans to set the record straight.

When do you expect the results of the investigation?

We are expecting the investigation report by the end of November – and the teachers will remain suspended until then.

How much are the suspensions, and their replacement supply teachers, costing the taxpayer?

Every school in Cardiff at any one time will have members of staff not present. All schools contribute to a fund covering the cost of replacement teachers. Danescourt isn’t paying anything additional.

Will the support headteacher, brought in by the council to work alongside the existing headteacher, stay in post beyond the investigation?

Heather Thomas has significant experience and only retired in August. She has agreed to stay until the investigation is completed but we are not ruling out the possibility of asking her to stay longer. I believe that everyone connected with the school has benefited from Heather’s experience and presence.

Teachers from outside the school were drafted in during its Estyn inspection this summer. Is this ethical and how legitimate are the results?

All 130 schools in Cardiff belong to a family of schools and it’s quite normal and regular for them to support each other in difficulties. We took a very clear view that far from it being morally unsound for us to do something, it would have been morally unsound for us not to do something.

Teaching unions are believed to be balloting on possible strike action. Is this a concern?

It’s a concern in the sense that it concerns the education of young people. We very much hope no trade union would have to resort to that. We continue to work very positively with all the trade unions.

Parents have expressed concerns about the quality of education at the school, with Year Six classes said to have been given Year Four homework. Is this true?

I can’t pretend that the number of staffing changes that children have experienced is going to have a beneficial impact on their education. The school’s own management and my staff continue to monitor the provision to ensure there is no undue negative impact on those children.

A lot of criticism has been aimed at the school’s headteacher, Sharon Randall-Smith. Is she aware of the complaints made against her?

The issues that have been raised with us that she wasn’t aware of have been relayed to her. Minutes of our meeting with parents have been sent to the head and we are in regular contact with her.

How does the investigation work?

Investigators act on the basis of scope given to them by the school’s governing body and amass evidence that they think is relevant. The expectation was that all teaching members of staff would be interviewed and a lot have been undertaken over the last month.

The news has had an adverse affect on the Danescourt community and some parents have considered removing their children from school. Are you aware of this?

There is no evidence of a mass exodus from this school and it has a perfectly normal in and out flow. We have no concerns at the moment about a major leaving of pupils. I appreciate that any upset or difficulties in the school will spill over into the community and can cause some unease. The only thing we can do is help the school resolve those difficulties as quickly as possible.

There were anonymous letters of complaint sent to the school last year. Why weren’t they acted upon?

This council does not respond to anonymous letters. A signed letter was sent later on and because it legitimated the claims made anonymously, they were all made available to investigators.

When did the initial investigation take place?

The first investigation took place between March and June this year. It found no grounds for the complaints raised, but found underlying relationship difficulties that the governing body needed to be made aware of. A second report was then commissioned.

Mrs Randall-Smith used to be headteacher at Mount Stuart Primary School in Butetown. Were there ever any issues in her previous post?

She had a successful tenure at Mount Stuart and had very good references when she moved to Danescourt.

When can parents expect their next update, and how will they be communicated with?

They have my commitment that I will contact them when there are any developments that might impact on their children’s education. Updates will probably come from the chair at the request of the governing body.

Is there anything additional you’d like to say regarding the investigation?

We recognise this is a school with difficulties and we recognise why parents are so anxious. The authority and governing body are working very closely together in complete harmony to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.